Celtic Leather Armour

[joquarter]

Great Job,

wish I dear to start such a big project.

[wildrose]

That has to be the most amazing piece of armor I've ever seen!

[TomBanwell]

Fantastic piece! Would love to see more.

[AndyL1]

Awesome work man! I actually like the back being plain except for the small knotwork at the neck. I think otherwise it would be too busy. Good job.

Andy

[gtwister09]

Dom,

Whoa! Somehow this slipped past me. I don't know a lot about this type of work but can certainly admire the workmanship, design and layout. This is top notch work. The quality of the work is excellent. You designs flow well and the back is clean and refreshing and is well set off by the small amount of tooling at the neck. That is an understated but powerful statement on the back of the armor. Great designs that are well balanced, executed, tooled and finished. Hats off!

Next time you might share a few more pictures up front as the interest in this project was overwhelming

Once again...great job.

Regards,

Ben

[unicornwoman]

Dude, with the quality and beauty of this armor. Why would you want it to be the last one and deprive people of owning such a work of art?

[Skald]

I don't mean to be rude, but the breastplate piece is clearly Norse, more specifically Urnes-style or general Mälardalen-style (Urnes tends to be more romanesque with finer detail and leaves etc). Anyhow, splendid knotwork, if you did this by yourself (which it seems you did), you are an true master of knotwork. You even whip Freki's ass on that.

Quite an amazing work, I can't even dare to think of what it would have looked like, if I tried carving that knot in the middle lower part hahaha... Such a detailed knotwork is far beyond what I can do. Just how to you manage to lower the parts around those fine lines? Some really small stamp, or by using a modeling spoon? And what did you use for coloring and finish? You really could make a decent living from producing such masterworks, if you are not already aware of and currently doing that.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Skald

[wildrose]

I find alot of those types of designs in books such as The Great Book of Celtic Patterns - so the calling of it "Celtic" is a common enough "mistake". Historically, the Nordic culture influenced the Celtic regions quite alot. I'm not arguing the origin of the designs, just pointing out that many of that style are now in materials with Celtic names.

[Skald]

I find alot of those types of designs in books such as The Great Book of Celtic Patterns - so the calling of it "Celtic" is a common enough "mistake". Historically, the Nordic culture influenced the Celtic regions quite alot. I'm not arguing the origin of the designs, just pointing out that many of that style are now in materials with Celtic names.

Yep, there are quite some Celtic stuff called Norse, and some Norse stuff called Celtic - and some plain fantasy stuff called either, without following any of the cultural "rules" for design. And indeed, there was a large scale mix between early Germanic tribes and continental Celtic tribes in Europe, they actually got along so well (in the lack of a better expression) that they intermingled and created a sort of distinct Celto-Germanic culture in some areas of for example Germany. I have seen myself historical sites, where they have dug up both clearly Germanic and clearly Celtic artifacts at the same place, and some I couldn't tell to be either Germanic or Celtic specifically. The Saxon invasion of Britain also led to quite a "mix up" of the two cultures, so was also the case with the later viking invasion/occupation of the British isles.

Speaking of such knotwork, have anyone seen any fine old books in .PDF format or so around the web? I found some book called Viking Art by a David M. Wilson and Ole Klindt-Jensen. It'san old book, and no longer copyrighted, so it should be available for free download. I bought some books earlier too, but it would be a crime to digitize and spread them, but if someone wants the aforementioned book and can't find it, I'd be glad to help you. It's a bit more difficult to draw these Norse knots free hand out of nothing, compared to the Celtic knots that are more geometric and "logical" - so I am always looking for as much material as possible, for inspiration - so any suggestions are welcome!

[Eldorado]

I can't see the full armor, just the spaulder and designs for the spaulder. Is that because I'm getting firewall issues or have they been removed?

Eldorado